Despite raising at least N710 million from poor applicants,
recruitment consultant, Drexel Limited, and interior ministry
authorities released only N45 million for the conduct of the screening
into the Nigeria Immigration Service, which ended in fatalities, a
member of the supervisory board told senators Thursday.
At least 16 job seekers died in stampedes across Nigeria on March 15,
sparking widespread outrage and calls for the removal of the Minister
of Interior, Patrick Abba Moro, and Comptroller General of Immigration,
David Parradang. The Secretary of the Civil Defence, Fire,
Immigration and Prisons Services board, S. D. Tapgun, told the senate
committee on interior investigating the exercise that 710,000 people
registered for the test, according to figures provided by the
consultant, Drexel Limited. The board had no independent means of
knowing the exact figure, he said. Lawmakers heard how despite raising
the huge amount, the board and the ministry still had no funds to
conduct the exercise.
The secretary of the board, Mr. Tapgun, said
funding was a serious challenge, and gave the impression it was the
main reason the minister, Mr. Moro, refused suggestions that the
exercise be staggered and conducted separately based on cadres. Mr.
Tapgun said the board estimated the exercise to cost N201 million, but
after collecting N710 million, the consultant, Drexel, only released N45
million for the exercise to be conducted. In a letter read at the
hearing, the consultant had made it clear that by the terms of their
agreement, it was the responsibility of the board or the ministry to
fund the recruitment, as it was only contracted to provide online
registration services. The N45 million released by the firm, was
regarded merely as a discretionary contribution, a disclosure lawmakers
said was one of the clearest signs the government board had lost control
over a firm it claimed to have hired. Testimonies given yet at the
hearing Thursday point to an exercise hijacked by the minister, Mr.
Moro, who is yet to respond at the hearing. Save the secretary, other
speakers said they were not duly informed of plans for the recruitment
that turned deadly in the end. The Comptroller-General, Mr. Parradang,
denied knowledge of the planning for the exercise and said his
suggestions were brushed aside. Another member of the board made
similar claim. In his first official comment since the disaster, Mr.
Parradang said his first information about recruitment into an
organization he heads, came from a newspaper advert. PREMIUM TIMES had
reported exclusively about a letter of protest by Mr. Parradang after
the newspaper publication. Speaking Thursday before the Senate
committee, the immigration boss said he raised the letter after
telephone conversations with all key members of the board, during which
those contacted denied knowledge of the advert calling for applications. One
member of the board, Mustapha Karim, who also testified at the hearing,
also said he was not aware of the plans, neither was the recruitment
ever discussed at any of the board’s meetings as should have been the
case.The board member said he and other members of the board only
knew of the plans after being shown a copy of the agreement for the
recruitment between the interior ministry and Drexel Limited. Mr. Karim
said the agreement was signed by the minister, Mr. Moro, without the
knowledge of the board. The second signature, purportedly by the former
secretary of the board, Mr. Attahiru, may have been forged, he said. Mr.
Karim told lawmakers Mr. Attahiru had personally confirmed to him that
he never signed the document. The Immigration boss, Mr. Parradang,
said one of the most outstanding breaches of the exercise was the
decision by the planners to take over the recruitment of both the senior
and junior cadre, unlike past practices whereby the supervising board
takes charge of the senior cadre, while Immigration Service recruits the
junior cadre. The minister, Mr. Moro, is the chairman of the
board. “For all my years in the service, no one had ever taken away from
us the right to recruit the Cadre B officials. And that was why I
protested very vehemently,” Mr. Parradang said. On why he did not
complain about the anomalies, or initiate a process to abort the planned
recruitment when it was clear the exercise did not follow the expected
practice, Mr. Parradang said “It is very clear from my presentation that
why we could not stop this process was because we were not the drivers
of the process.” (Naij)
READ MORE: http://news.naij.com/62986.html
READ MORE: http://news.naij.com/62986.html
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